Previous work with sensor fusion used separate sensors and large amounts of signal processing to fuse the images for display. These previous common-aperture optics used mirrors and large, cube beamsplitters. These components do not provide fast F/# and wide fields of view without significant cost in weight and size. Multispectral optical materials for cube beamsplitters are extremely heavy and expensive. Also, the multispectral beamsplitters' optical coatings are either extremely expensive, too thick, or impossible to produce on the inner face of a cube beamsplitter. Multispectral optical materials also have relatively low bulk transmission, and this must be minimized. Because of these limitations, it would be advantageous in the art to provide an optical design which is reproducible, has a flat-plate beamsplitters, and minimizes the use of multispectral optical materials.
The present invention addresses these needs.